THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


LORD   BBOUGHAM 


EDUCATION 


J.    ORVILLE   TAYLOR. 


NEW-YORK  : 

PUBLISHED   BY   TAYLOR    &    CLEMENT, 

128  Fulton-Street. 

1839. 


PIERCY    &    REED,    PRINTERS, 

No.  9  Spruce-Street. 


STACK  ANNEX 

LA 

632. 


PREFACE 


Man  is  made  to  know. 

"  And  there  will  be  a  time  when  this  great  truth, 
Electric,  shall  run  from  man  to  man, 
And  the  blood-cemented  pyramids  of  ignorance 
Shall  by  its  flash  be  thrown  to  earth  in  atoms — 
When  it  shall  blaze  with  sun-refulgent  splendor 
And  the  whole  earth  be  lighted." 

Then,  and  not  till  then, 

"  Will  all  empty  ranks  be  abolished,  and 
Slave,  lord  and  king,  ennobled  unto  MAN." 

For  "that  King  of  Kings  who  gave  to  the 
world  the  device  of  moveable  types,  and  taught 
the  art  of  printing,  disbanded  armies,  dethroned 
monarchs,  and  created  a  whole  new  democratic 
world." 


I 

4  PREFACE. 

Every  effort  in  a  republican  government, 
should  be  made 

"  To  give  the  mind  that  apprehensive  power 
By  which  it  is  made  quick  to  recognise 
The  moral  properties  and  scope  of  things  :" 

And  to  this  end,  we  believe  a  more  accepta- 
ble service  could  not  be  rendered  to  the  friends 
of  learning  and  liberty,  than  to  collect  and  pub- 
lish the  most  valuable  opinions  of  Lord  Broug- 
ham on  the  subject  of  the  People's  Education. 


CONTENTS. 


Preface 3 

Opinion  of  Scotchmen,  &c.  &c.  &c.  .  7  ' 
Happy  Effects  of  Education,  .  .  12 
The  Time  in  School,  .  .  .  '  .  15 
Reasons  for  establishing  School  Systems,  18 
The  People  their  own  Instructers,  .  21 
The  Pleasures  of  Knowledge,  .  .  24 
Opinion  of  Mr.  Owen's  Plan,  .  .  28 
Education  of  the  Poor,  ...  31 
Imperishable  Monuments  to  a  Nation's  Fame,  34 
Pernicious  Influence  of  Annual  Parlia- 
mentary Grants  on  Public  Schools,  38 
On  the  Prevention  of  Crime,  .  .  42 
Religion  as  connected  with  Education,  .  47* 
The  Human  Mind  no  longer  in  Shackles,  50 
Capacity  of  Children  to  acquire  Knowledge  53 
Effect  of  Habit  on  the  Infant  Mind,  .  56 


PREFACE. 

Early  formation  of  Good  Habits,     .        .  57 

Benefits  resulting  from  Infant  Schools,     .  60 

Education  no  Detriment  to  the  Poor,      .  64 

Instructing  the  Poor  in  Latin  and  Greek,  71 

Sneers  at  Education 75 

The  Prussian   System  of  Education  can 

never  be  adopted  in  this  Country,      .  77 

The  Thirst  after  Knowledge,        .        .  81 
The  March  of  "  Intellect"  and  its  Contemners,  86 


LORD  BROUGHAM 


EDUCATION, 


OPINION   OP    SCOTCHMEN. REASON  WHY    THEY 

SUCCEED  IN  LIFE. OPINION    OF  AMERICA. 

INFLUENCE      OF     EDUCATION. 

"  Go  where  you  will  over  the  world,  the  name 
of  a  Scotchman  is  still  found,  combined  in  the 
minds  of  all  men,  perhaps,  with  some  qualities, 
which  sincere  regard  for  that  good  people  re- 
strains me  from  mentioning,  but  certainly  with 
the  reputation  of  a  well-educated  man.  To 
the  possession  of  this  enviable  characteristic, 
and  not,  I  trust,  to  the  other  quality  imputed  to 
them,  we  may  fairly  ascribe  the  high  credit, 
the  great  ease,  and  what  is  usually  termed  the 
success  in  life,  which  generally  attend  Scotch- 
men settled  abroad.  The  countries  where  they 

have  settled  have  partially  followed  their  exam- 

1 


0  LOBD  BROTTGHAM 

pie — as,  indeed,  into  what  part  of  the  world 
have  they  not  emigrated? — and,  Sir,  let  me 
ask,  where  have  they  gone  without  conferring 
benefits  on  the  place  of  their  adoption  ?  In 
what  place  have  they  settled  that  has  not  reap- 
ed, at  least,  as  much  advantage  from  them  as  it 
has  bestowed  upon  them  ?  In  Sweden,  where 
a  number  of  noble  families  are  of  Scotch  ex- 
traction, something  upon  the  model  of  the  pa- 
rish-school system  has  long  been  established, 
In  the  Swiss  cantons,  and  in  many  of  the  Pro- 
testant countries  of  Germany,  the  example  has 
been  followed,  with  more  or  less  closeness,  and 
whenever  the  plan  has  been  adopted,  its  influ- 
ence upon  the  improvement  of  the  lower  class- 
es and  the  general  well-being  of  society  has, 
if  I  trust  my  own  observation,  and  the  concur- 
ring testimonies  of  other  travellers,  been  abun- 
dantly manifest, 

America  affords  another  instance  which  de- 
serves to  be  cited  as  a  triumphant  refutation  of 
the  whimsies  of  ingenious  men,  who  fancy 
they  can  descry  something  in  education  incom- 
patible with  general  industry.  That  is  surely 


ON  EDUCATION.  9 

the  last  country  in  the  world  where  idleness 
can  expect  to  find  encouragement.  The  impu- 
tation upon  it  has  rather  been  that  the  inhabi- 
tants are  too  busy  to  be  refined.  An  idler  there 
is  a  kind  of  monster  ;  he  can  find  no  place  in 
any  of  the  innumerable  tribes  that  swarm  over 
that  vast  continent.  In  the  rapid  stream  of  its 
active  and  strenuous  population  it  is  impossi- 
ble for  any  one  to  stand  still  a  moment ;  if  he 
partake  not  in  its  motion  he  will  be  dashed 
aside.  Yet  such  is  the  conviction  there  that 
popular  education  foims  the  best  foundation  for 
national  prosperity,  that,  in  all  the  grants  made 
by  the  Government  of  this  boundless  territory, 
a  certain  portion  of  each  township,  I  believe 
the  twentieth  lot,  is  reserved  for  the  expense 
of  instructing  and  maintaining  the  poor." 


[In  this  article  the  writer  alludes  to  "  quali- 
ties, which  sincere  regard  for  Scotchmen,  re- 
strains him  from  mentioning."  From  what  is 
well  known  of  the  Scotch  character,  and  seen 
in  the  context  of  this  remark,  we  may  readily 


10  LORD   BROUGHAM 

suppose  that  one  of  the  "  qualities"  restrained 
by  the  noble  Lord's  "  regard  for  that  good  peo- 
ple" is  bigotry.  The  Scotch  will  educate, 
thoroughly,  as  far  as  their  creed  goes,  but  not 
out  of  it.  They  are  like  many  in  our  own 
country,  who  think  more  of  their  own  particular 
Confession  of  Faith,  than  of  the  common  Bi- 
ble,— more  of  their  particular  Church,  than  of 
our  common  Humanity.  People  with  such 
narrow,  uncharitable  views,  frequently  raise 
a  standard  of  perfection,  not  to  follow,  but  to 
judge  others  by.  They  flatter  themselves  that 
growth  in  grace  is  attained  and  measured  by 
their  ability  and  readiness  to  find  fault  with  a 
neighbor's  creed  or  life  !  Hence,  censorious- 
ness,  and  formality,  with  personal  and  church 
altercations.  Nor  do  we  see  an  end  of  all  this, 
for  instead  of  taking  a  common  ground,  found 
in  the  Bible,  and  broad  enough  for  all  to  meet 
on,  our  country  is  fast  dividing  into  Episcopal 
Institutes,  Methodist  Seminaries,  Presbyterian 
Colleges,  &c.  &c.  Each  sect  not  only  has  its 
own  schools,  but  every  child  must  be  educated 
in  the  schools  of  its  particular  sect.  In  this 


ON  EDUCATION.  11 

way  bigotry,  with  all  its  "  malice  and  unchari- 
tableness"  will  soon  be  a  prominent  "quality" 
of  the  American  People.  We  wish,  however, 
not  to  be  misunderstood.  A  religious  education 
is  all  important  to  the  welfare  of  society  and  the 
happiness  of  the  individual,  for  the  whole  his- 
tory of  man  tells  us  that  the  march  of  intellect, 
separated  from  moral  instruction,  is  the  rogue's 
march. 

At  the  close  of  this  article,  the  "  twentieth 
lot"  is  mentioned  as  the  portion  of  land  re- 
served for  a  school  fund.  Here  is  a  slight 
error,  as  the  thirty-second  part  of  the  new 
states,  and  lot  number  sixteen,  is  the  school 
section. — Ed.} 


12  LORD    BROUGHAM 

HAPPY    EFFECTS    OF   EDUCATION. 

"  The  tendency  of  knowledge  is,  and  the  ten- 
dency of  its  diffusion  undoubtedly  is,  to  im- 
prove the  habits  of  the  people,  to  better  their 
principles,  and  to  amend  all  that  which  we  call 
their  characteis  ;  for  there  are  a  host  of  princi- 
ples and  feelings  which  go  together,  to  make 
up  what  we  call,  in  the  common  acceptation  of 
the  words,  the  human  character.  How  does 
this  diffusion  operate  ?  To  increase  habits  of 
reflection,  to  enlarge  the  sphere  of  the  mind, 
to  render  it  more  capable  of  receiving  pleasur- 
able emotions,  and  of  taking  an  interest  in  oth- 
er, and  in  higher  and  better  matters  than  mere 
sensual  gratification.  It  tends  to  improve  the 
feelings  as  well  as  to  increase  the  reflective 
habits ;  and  it  tends,  therefore,  to  the  attain- 
ment of  that  which  in  itself  tends  immediate- 
ly and  directly  to  improve  the  character  and 
conduct  of  a  nation. 

It  tends  to  increase  prudence  and  prudential 
habits,  and  to  amend  and  to  improve  the  hu- 
man feelings.  The  ancients  have  described 


ON    EDUCATION.  13 

the  effects  of  education  in  far  better  language, 
and  much  more  happily  than  I  can  do — "  emol- 
lit  mores  nee  sinit  esse  fores" 

June  20,  1834,  (Prison  Discipline.) 


[Uneducated  mind  is  educated  vice,  for  man 
is  made  to  knoio,  he  is  the  subject  of  educa- 
tion, and  if  not  informed  does  not  fulfil  the 
object  of  his  being,  and  is  necessarily  misera- 
ble :  and  the  miserable  man  very  easily  be- 
comes the  criminal.  In  a  right  education  there 
is  a  divine  alchymy  which  turns  all  the  baser 
parts  of  man's  nature  into  gold.  It  is  said  in 
one  of  the  fables  of  the  ancients,  that  when 
the  first  rays  of  the  morning  sun  fell  upon  the 
Statue  of  Memnon,  it  sent  forth  music  ;  and  it 
is  only  after  the  first  rays  of  knowledge  have 
fallen  upon  man,  that  his  nature  "discourses 
harmony."  Man  must  be  taught  to  read  and 
understand  the  laws,  before  he  can  know  and 
exhibit  the  beauty  and  happiness  of  obedience. 
I  was  once  passing  through  a  park  with  a  friend, 
and  seeing  notices  nailed  to  the  trees,  thai  "  all 


14  LORD  BROUGHAM 

dogs  found  in  this  park  will  be  shot :"  my  com- 
panion observed,  "  if  dogs  cannot  read,  they 
are  badly  off  here."  But  the  Creator  has  not 
only  written  his  laws  upon  the  trees,  he  ha» 
inscribed  them  on  the  arching  heavens,  over 
the  green  earth,  and  into  the  very  form  and 
soul  of  man ;  and  if  he  is  not  able  to  read,  he  ii 
"  badly  off  here."  Dr.  Johnson,  being  askec 
"  who  was  the  most  miserable  man,"  said,  "  He 
who  cannot  read  on  a  rainy  day." — Ed.] 


ON   EDUCATION.  15 


THE    TIME    IN    SCHOOL. 

"  It  is  not  the  less  true,  because  it  has  been 
oftentimes  said,  that  the  period  of  youth  is  by 
far  the  best  fitted  for  the  improvement  of  the 
mind,  and  the  retirements  of  a  college  almost 
exclusively  adapted  to  much  study.  At  your 
enviable  age,  every  thing  has  the  lively  interest 
of  novelty  and  freshness  ;  attention  is  perpetu- 
ally sharpened  by  curiosity,  and  the  memory 
is  tenacious  of  deep  impressions  it  thus  re- 
ceives, to  a  degree  unknown  in  after  life  ;  while 
the  distracting  cares  of  the  world,  or  its  beguil- 
ing pleasures,  cross  not  the  threshold  of  these 
calm  retreats  ;  its  distant  noise  and  bustle  are 
faintly  heard,  making  the  shelter  you  enjoy 
more  grateful;  arid  the  struggles  of  anxious 
mortals  embarked  upon  that  troublous  sea, 
are  viewed  from  an  eminence,  the  security  of 
which  is  rendered  more  sweet  by  the  pros- 
pect of  the  scene  below.  Yet  a  little  while, 
and  you  too  will  be  plunged  into  those  waters 
of  bitterness,  and  will  cast  an  eye  of  regret, 


16  LORD   BROUGHAM 

as  now  I  do,  upon  the  peaceful  regions  you 
have  quitted  forever.  Such  is  your  lot  as  mem- 
bers of  society ;  but  it  will  be  your  own  fault 
if  you  look  back  on  this  place  with  repentance 
or  with  shame  ;  and  be  well  assured  that,  what- 
ever time — aye,  every  hour — you  squander 
here  on  unprofitable  idling,  will  then  rise  up 
against  you,  and  be  paid  for  by  years  of  bitter 
but  unavailing  regrets.  Study  then  I  beseech 
you,  so  to  store  your  minds  with  the  exquisite 
learning  of  former  ages,  that  you  may  always 
possess  within  yourselves  sources  of  rational 
and  refined  enjoyment,  which  will  enable  you 
to  set  at  nought  the  grosser  pleasures  of  sense 
whereof  other  men  are  slaves  !  and  so  imbue 
yourselves  with  the  sound  philosophy  of  later 
days,  forming  yourselves  to  the  virtuous  habits 
which  are  its  legitimate  offspring,  that  you  may 
walk  unhurt  through  the  trials  which  await  you, 
and  may  look  down  upon  the  ignorance  and 
error  that  surround  you,  not  with  lofty  and  su- 
percilious contempt,  as  the  sages  of  old  times, 
but  with  the  vehement  desire  of  enlightening 


ON  EDUCATION.  17 

those  who  wander  in  darkness,  who  are  by  so 
much  the  more  endeared  to  us  by  how  much 
they  want  our  assistance ."_, 


18  LORD   BROUGHAM 

REASONS    FOR   ESTABLISHING  SCHOOL    SYSTEMS. 

"  There  are  some  wants  which  the  animal  in- 
stincts of  our  nature  leave  safely  to  encumber 
us,  since  they  are  sure  of  being  provided  for, 
as  hunger  and  thirst,  and  other  such  natural 
propensities,  operating  as  a  physical  necessity  ; 
he  who  feels  them  will  take  means  to  satisfy 
their  craving,  as  the  more  he  feels  them  the 
more  sure  he  is  to  endeavor  to  obtain  relief. — 
But  it  is  not  so  with  the  wants  of  nature  affect- 
ing the  more  refined  and  noble  part  of  our  con- 
stitution. It  is  not  so,  for  instance,  with  the 
want  of  education,  I  mean  common  secular 
education  ;  on  the  contrary,  the  more  ignorant 
people  are  the  less  civilized  they  are  ;  the  less 
they  know  of  the  utility  and  advantages  of 
learning,  the  less  they  bestir  themselves  and 
take  means  of  supplying  the  defects  in  their 
education." 


[Systems  for  carrying  instruction   to  the 
people,  must  ever  be  established,  and  the  rich 


ON  EDUCATION.  19 

should  cheerfully  submit  to  levies  for  their 
maintenance  ;  knowing  that  taxes  for  the  sup- 
port of  education  are  like  vapors,  which  rise, 
only  to  descend  again  to  beautify  and  fertilize 
the  earth.  And  yet  there  is  an  evil  tendency 
in  a  law,  for  we  are  ever  ready  to  excuse  indi- 
vidual effort  and  leave  the  education  of  the  peo- 
ple to  legislators  and  School  Systems  :  so  that 
if  individual  effort,  is  requested,  the  reply  is 
"have  we  not  anexcellent  School  System,  and  a 
princely  School  Fund? — This  matter  belongs  to 
the  government,  and  not  to  you  or  to  me." 
Such  remarks  remind  me  of  the  boy  who  was 
indentured  in  the  old  fashioned  way,  to  work 
nine  months  of  the  year,and  receive  an  education 
the  remaining  three  months  ;  but  the  boy  could 
never  be  induced  to  attend  school ;  and  when 
the  neighbors  asked  him  why  he  did  not  go  to 
school  as  other  boys  did,  he  replied,  "  my  mas- 
ter has  agreed  to  give  me  an  education, — he  is 
bound  to  do  it  in  the  'denture,  and  I'm  not  go- 
ing to  the  school  house  arter  it."  Many  of  us 
seem  to  think  that  the  School  Law  and  the 

School  Fund,  are  bound  to  give  us  an  educa- 
3 


20  LORD   BROUGHAM 

tion,  and  that  we  are  not  to  make  any  personal 
effort  for  it.  And  relying  upon  a  School  Sys- 
tem, will  only  cheat  us  of  an  education  ;  per- 
sonal effort  is  the  price  of  knowledge.  But 
what  at  present,  is  most  wanting  with  us,  is,  an 
active  co-operation  on  the  part  of  the  people, 
with  our  school  systems. — Ed.} 


ON    EDUCATION.  21 


THE   PEOPLE   THEIR   OWN  INSTRUCTERS. 

*'  It  is  no  doubt  manifest,  that  the  people  them- 
selves must  be  the  great  agents  in  accomplish- 
ing the  work  of  their  own  instruction.  Unless 
they  deeply  feel  the  usefulness  of  knowledge, 
and  resolve  to  make  some  sacrifices  for  the  ac- 
quisition of  it,  there  can  be  no  reasonable  pros- 
pect of  this  grand  object  being  obtained. — 
But  it  is  equally  clear  that  to  wait  until  the 
whole  people  with  one  accord  make  the  deter- 
mination to  labor  in  this  good  work,  would  be 
endless.  A  portion  of  the  community  may  be 
sensible  of  its  advantages,  and  willing  at  any 
fair  price  to  seek  them,  long  before  the  same 
laudable  feelings  become  universal ;  and  then 
successful  efforts  to  better  their  intellectual  con- 
dition cannot  fail  to  spread  more  widely  the 
love  of  learning,  and  the  disrelish  for  sensual 
and  vulgar  gratifications.  But  although  the 
people  must  be  the  source  and  the  instruments 
of  their  own  improvement,  they  may  be  essen- 
tially aided  in  their  efforts  to  instruct  then> 


22  LORD   BROUGHAM 

selves.  Impediments  which  might  be  suffered 
to  retard  or  wholly  to  obstruct  their  progress, 
may  be  removed  ;  and  efforts  which,  unassist- 
ed, might  prove  fruitless,  arising  perhaps  from 
a  transient  or  only  a  partial  enthusiasm  for  the 
attainment  of  knowledge,  may,  through  judi- 
cious encouragement,  become  effectual,  and 
settle  into  a  lasting  and  an  universal  habit." 

Glasgow  Discou.se,  1836. 


[The  People  will  never  be  their  own  instruct- 
ors, until  they  so  learn  to  read,  that  they  will 
afterwards  read  to  learn — not  until  they  are 
taught  to  think  while  they  observe,  and  observe 
while  they  think.  The  meagre  unmeaning 
moiety  of  verbage,  they  now  get  from  the 
schools,  in  the  place  of  real,  well  defined  know- 
ledge, cannot  help  them  in  the  difficult  and  sub- 
lime process  of  self-education ;  and  we  shall 
never  see  many  who  are  the  best  taught  of  all — 
gelf-taught — so  long  as  the  schools  give  little 
or  nothing  to  the  people  to  commence  with. 
A  good  elementary  education  is  all  that  is  ne- 


ON   EDUCATION.  23 

cessary  to  self-instruction.  Said  Edmund 
Stone,  the  Mathematician:  "Does  any  man 
need  to  know  any  more  than  the  twenty-six  let- 
ters, to  learn  every  thing  else  ?"  But  he  must 
learn  these  twenty-six  letters  distinctly,  and  with 
delight — the  first  steps  must  be  taken  under- 
standingly  and  with  joy,  or  else  he  will  not  have 
that  ability  and  strong  desire  to  progress  in  the 
path  of  knowledge,  so  necessary  to  ensure  suc- 
cess. It  will  not  do  to  teach  the  child  to  say 
its  primer,  cypher  to  reduction,  and  hate  know- 
ledge all  the  rest  of  its  life  !  If  so,  instead  of 
the  people's  being  "  their  own  instructors,"  the 
great  majority  will 

"  Live  unknown,  end  steal  into  a  peasant's  grave." 

Ed] 


24  LORD   BROUGHAM 


THE   PLEASURES    OF    KNOWLEDGE. 

"It  maybe  easily  demonstrated  that  there  is 
an  advantage  in  learning,  both  for  the  useful- 
ness and  the  pleasure  of  it.  There  is  some- 
thing positively  agreeal-le  to  all  men,  to  all,  at 
least,  whose  nature  is  not  most  grovelling  and 
base,  in  gaining  knowledge  for  its  own  sake. 
When  you  see  any  thing  for  the  first  time,  you 
at  once  derive  some  gratification  from  the  sight 
being  new ;  your  attention  is  awakened,  and 
you  desire  to  know  more  about  it.  If  it  is  a 
piece  of  workmanship,  as  an  instrument,  a  ma- 
chine of  any  kind,  you  wish  to  know  how  it  is 
made  ;  how  it  works  ;  of  what  use  it  is.  If 
it  is  an  animal,  you  desire  to  know  where  it 
comes  from  ;  how  it  lives  ;  what  are  its  dispo- 
sitions, and,  generally,  its  nature  and  habits. 
You  feel  this  desire  too  without  at  all  consider- 
ing that  the  machine  or  the  animal  may  ever 
be  of  the  least  use  to  yourself  practically  ;  for, 
in  all  probability,  you  may  never  see  them 
again.  But  you  have  a  curiosity  to  know  all 


ON   EDUCATION.  25 

about  them,  because  they  are  new  and  unknown. 
You  accordingly  make  inquiries  ;  you  feel  a 
gratification  in  getting  answers  to  your  ques- 
tions ;  that  is,  in  receiving  information,  and  in 
knowing  more  ;  in  being  better  informed  than 
you  were  before.  If  you  happen  again  to  see 
the  same  instrument  or  animal,  in  some  respects 
like,  but  differing  in  other  particulars,  we  find 
it  pleasing  to  compare  them  together,  and  to 
note  in  what  they  agree,  and  in  what  they  dif- 
fer. Now,  all  this  kind  of  gratification  is  of  a 
pure  and  disinterested  nature,  and  has  no  refer- 
ence to  any  of  the  common  purposes  of  life  ; 
yet  it  is  a  pleasure — an  enjoyment.  You  are 
nothing  the  richer  for  it ;  you  do  not  gratify 
your  palate,  or  any  other  bodily  appetite  ;  and 
yet  it  is  so  pleasing  that  you  would  give  some- 
thing out  of  your  pocket  to  obtain  it,  and  fore- 
go some  bodily  enjoyment  for  its  sake.  The 
pleasure  derived  from  science  is  exactly  of  the 
like  nature,  or  rather  it  is  the  very  same.  For 
what  has  been  just  spoken  of  is  in  fact  science, 
which,  in  its  most  comprehensive  sense,  only 
means  knowledge,  and  in  its  ordinary  sense 


26  I.ORD   BROUGHAM 

means  knowledge  reduced  to  a  system  ;  that  is, 
arranged  in  a  regular  order,  so  as  to  be  con- 
veniently taught,  easily  remembered,  and  rea- 
dily applied. 

The  practical  uses  of  any  science  or  branch 
of  knowledge  are  undoubtedly  of  the  highest 
importance  ;  and  there  is  hardly  any  man  who 
may  not  gain  some  positive  advantage  in  his 
worldly  wealth  and  comforts,  by  increasing  his 
stock  of  information.  But  there  is  also  a  plea- 
sure in  seeing  the  uses  to  which  knowledge 
may  be  applied,  wholly  independent  of  the 
share  we  ourselves  may  have  in  those  practi- 
cal benefits.  It  is  pleasing  to  examine  the  na- 
ture of  a  new  instrument,  or  the  habits  of  an 
unknown  animal,  without  considering  whether 
or  not  they  may  ever  be  of  use  to  ourselves  or 
to  any  body.  It  is  another  gratification  to  ex- 
tend our  inquiries,  and  find  that  the  instrument 
or  animal  is  useful  to  man,  even  although  we 
have  no  chance  ourselves  of  ever  benefitting 
by  the  information :  as,  to  find  that  the  natives 
of  some  distant  country  employ  the  animal  in 
travelling  : — nay,  though  he  have  no  desire  of 


ON   EDUCATION.  27 

benefiting  by  the  knowledge  ;  as,  for  example, 
to  find  that  the  instrument  is  useful  in  perform- 
ing some  dangerous  surgical  operation.  The 
mere  gratification  of  curiosity  ;  the  knowing 
more  to-day  than  we  knew  yesterday  ;  the  un- 
derstanding clearly  what  before  seemed  obscure 
and  puzzling  ;  the  contemplation  of  general 
truths,  and  the  comparing  together  of  different 
things, — is  an  agreeable  occupation  of  the 
mind  ;  and,  beside  the  present  enjoyment,  ele- 
vates the  faculties  above  low  pursuits,  purifies 
and  refines  the  passions,  and  helps  our  reason 
to  assuage  their  violence." 


28  LORD    BROUGHAM 


OPINION    OF    MR.    OWEN'S    PLAN. HIS    SYSTEM 

OF    EDUCATION. 

"  I  am  desirous  not  to  be  misunderstood  as 
agreeing  wholly  to  Mr.  Owen's  plan.  I  con- 
ceive the  theory  on  which  it  is  founded  to  be 
wholly  erroneous.  It  is  founded  upon  a  prin- 
ciple which  I  deny, — that  of  the  increase  of 
population  being  a  benefit  to  the  country.  But, 
although  I  differ  from  the  theory  upon  which 
that  plan  is  founded,  especially  upon  the  subject 
of  population,  and  think  it  would  increase  the 
evil  of  which  it  is  the  ostensible  remedy,  I  still 
think  that  there  are  certain  parts  of  the  plan 
peculiarly  entitled  to  the  consideration  of  the 
House.  I  mean  especially  that  part  of  it  which 
relates  to  education.  The  system  proposed 
and  acted  upon  by  Mr.  Owen,  in  training  infant 
children,  before  they  are  susceptible  of  what 
is  generally  called  education,  is  deserving  of 
the  utmost  attention.  This,  indeed,  is  the 
sound  part  of  Mr.  Owen's  plan,  and  agreeable 
to  the  wisest  principles. 


ON  EDUCATION.  29 

By  all  means,  then,  I  would  say,  let  the 
House  appoint  a  Committee,  to  inquire  into  the 
means  bv  which  those  parts  of  Mr.  Owen's 
plan,  against  which  no  objections  can  be  made, 
may  best  be  put  in  general  practice.  That 
which  is  wild  or  visionary  may  be  slighted  ; 
but  the  useful  or  the  practicable  ought  not  to 
be  discarded.  At  the  same  time,  I  must  say, 
with  respect  to  education,  that  the  assistance  of 
Government  or  Parliament  is  not  so  necessary 
to  its  advancement,  as  the  interests  of  that  sub- 
ject may  be  very  safely  trusted  to  the  public 
spirit  and  private  benevolence  of  the  country." 


[We  see  here  the  liberality  of  a  great  mind. 
It  selects,  from  much  that  is  impracticable  and 
pernicious,  such  parts  as  are  important.  It  is 
ever  ready  to  learn  from  sources,  however  de- 
spised or  mingled  with  error.  It  is  the  remark 
of  another  living  philosopher  and  legislator, 
"  that  the  glory  of  a  nation  does  not  consist  in 
never  borrowing  anything,  but  in  perfecting 
every  thing  it  borrows."  And  the  Legislature 


30  LORD   BROUGHAM 

of  every  State,  should  at  once  appoint  a  com- 
mittee to  investigate  and  secure  the  merits  of 
every  School  System,  and  thus  be  able  to  em- 
body in  a  school  law,  all  the  excellencies  ob- 
tained from  the  experience  and  experiments  of 
every  civilized  nation.  By  such  action  the 
improvements  of  every  observing,  investigating 
Teacher  and  School  Association,  would  become 
common  stock  to  all. — Ed.] 


ON     EDUCATION.  31 

EDUCATION    OF    THE    POOR. 

"It  is  with  unspeakable  delight  that  I  contem- 
plate the  rich  gifts  that  have  been  bestowed — 
the  honest  zeal  displayed  by  private  persons  for 
the  benefit  of  their  fellow-creatures.  When 
we  inquire  from  whence  proceeded  these  en- 
dowments, we  generally  find  that  it  is  not  from 
the  public  policy,  nor  the  bounty  of  them,  who, 
in  their  day,  possessing  princely  revenues,  were 
anxious  to  devote  a  portion  of  them  for  the 
benefit  of  mankind — not  from  those  who,  hav- 
ing amassed  vast  fortunes  by  public  employ- 
ment, were  desirous  to  repay,  in  charity,  a  lit- 
tle of  what  they  had  thus  levied  upon  the  State, 
It  is  more  frequently  some  obscure  personage 
— some  tradesman  of  humble  birth — who, 
grateful  for  the  education  which  had  enabled 
him  to  acquire  his  wealth  through  honest  indus- 
try, turned  a  portion  of  it  from  the  claims  of 
nearer  connections,  to  enable  other  helpless 
creatures,  in  circumstances  like  his  own,  to 
meet  the  struggles  he  himself  has  undergone. 
In  the  history  of  this  country,  public  or  domes- 
tic, I  know  of  no  feature  more  touching  than 
3 


32  LORD    BROUGHAM 

this,  unless,  perhaps,  it  be  the  yet  more  aflect- 
ing  sight  of  those,  who  every  day,  before  our 
eyes,  are  seen  devoting  their  fortunes,  their 
time,  their  labor,  their  health,  to  offices  of  be- 
nevolence and  mercy.  How  many  persons  do 
I  myself  know,  to  whom  it  is  only  necessary 
to  say  there  are  men  without  employment,  chil- 
dren uneducated,  sufferers  in  prison,  victims  of 
disease,  wretches  pining  in  want,  and  straight- 
way they  will  abandon  all  other  pursuits,  as  if 
they  themselves  had  not  large  families  to  pro- 
vide for ;  and  toil  for  day  and  for  nights,  stolen 
from  their  most  necessary  avocations,  to  feed 
the  hungry,  clothe  the  naked,  and  shed  upon 
the  children  of  the  poor  that  inestimable  bless- 
ing of  education,  which  alone  gave  themselves 
the  wish  and  the  power  "  to  relieve  their  fellow- 
men  !"  I  survey  this  picture  with  inexpressi- 
ble pleasure,  and  the  rather  because  it  is  a  glo- 
ry peculiar  to  England.  She  has  the  more 
cause  to  be  proud  of  it,  that  it  is  the  legitimate 
fruit  of  her  free  constitution.  Where  tyrants 
bear  sway,  palaces  may  arise  to  lodge  the  poor  ; 
and  hospitals  may  be  the  most  magnificent  or 


ON     EDUCATION.  33 

imments  of  the  seat  of  power.  But,  though 
fair  to  the  eye,  and  useful  to  several  classes, 
their  foundations  are  laid  in  the  sufferings  of 
others.  They  are  supported  not  by  private  be- 
neficence— which  renders  a  pleasure  to  the  giv- 
er, as  well  as  a  comfort  to  him  who  receives — 
but  by  the  haru-won  earnings  of  the  poor, 
wrung  from  their  wants,  and  frequently  by  the 
preposterous  imposts  laid  upon  their  vices. — 
While  the  rulers  of  any  people  will  hold  from 
them  the  enjoyment  of  theirmostsacred  rights — 
-a  voice  in  the  management  of  their  own  affairs, 
they  must  continue  .strangers  to  those  noble  sen- 
timents— that  honeat  declaration  of  purpose 
which  distinguishes  freemen,  teaches  them  to 
look  beyond  the  sphere  of  personal  interest, 
makes  their  hearts  beat  high,  and  stretches  out 
their  arms  for  the  glory  and  the  advantage  of 
their  country.  There  is  no  more  degrading 
effect  of  despotism,  than  that  it  limits  the  cha- 
ritable feelings  of  our  nature,  rendering  men 
suspicious  and  selfish,  and  forgetful  that  they 
have  a  country.  Happily  for  England  she  has 
a  people  capable  .of  higher  things  !" 

^Practical  Observations  on  the  Education'  of  the  People.? 


34  LORD  BROUGHAM 

IMPERISHABLE   MONUMENTS    TO   A    NATION'S 
FAME. 

"I  cannot  sit  down  without  once  more  advert- 
ing to  a  most  interesting  topic,  to  which  I  drew 
the  notice  of  the  House  when  I  last  had  the 
honor  of  addressing  them.  Every  day  has  dis- 
covered to  the  Committee  (of  Education)  more 
and  more  proofs  of  the  munificently  charitable 
disposition  of  individuals  in  former  times. 
What  I  wish  you  to  do  is,  only  to  turn  with 
grateful  attention  to  the  benevolence  of  your 
forefathers,  and  to  endeavor  to  prevent  the  me- 
morials of  that  benevolence  from  being  defaced. 
We  are  occupied  in  raising  monuments  to 
the  glory  of  our  naval  and  military  defenders, 
and  fashioning  them  of  materials  far  more  per- 
ishable than  their  renown  ;  all  I  ask  is,  that  we 
should  protect  from  the  operations  of  time,  and 
from  the  injuries  of  interested  malversation, 
those  monuments  of  the  genuine  glory  of  our 
ancestors,  those  trophies  which  they  won  in  a 
pious  and  innocent  warfare,  and  left  to  com 


ON    EDUCATION.  35 

me  morale  triumphs  unmingled  with  sorrow, 
unpoauted  by  blood,  gained  over  Ignorance, 
that  worst  enemy  of  the  human  race,  and  over 
her  progeny, Vice  ! 

Thus  we  shall  perform  a  greater  service  to  the 
public ;  we  shall  contribute  to  exalt  the  name 
and  the  fame  of  this  country  more  than  by  all 
the  other  acts  of  public  munificence  in  which, 
as  a  great  and  victorious  nation,  we  have  been, 
justly  indulging.  Whatever  may  be  attempted 
to  impede  the  attainment  of  this  object,  I  hope 
that  we  shall  so  vigilantly  protect  the  Commis- 
sioners in  the  execuiion  of  their  duty,  as  to 
prove  to  all  persons  that  any  efforts  to  frustrate 
the  views  of  this  House,  and  to  defeat  the  hopes 
of  the  country,  are  vain ;  and  I  trust  that  all  who 
have  hitherto  obstructed,  or  who  may  yet  en- 
deavor to  thwart  our  views,  whether  from  an 
interested  dread  lest  their  own  malversations 
should  be  detected,  or  from  scarcely  less  base 
fellow-feelings  for  the  malversations  of  others, 
or  from  a  silly  and  groundless  fear  of  they  know 
not  what  dangers — that  all  who,  on  whatever 

grounds,  hold  out  a  protecting  hand  to  cormp- 
3* 


36  LOAD   BROUGHAM 

tion,  from  the  hereditary  enemy  of  improve- 
ment, and  the  mitred  patron  of  abuse,  down  to 
the  meanest  peculator  in  the  land,  may  learn 
that  the  time  is  gone  by  when  the  poor  can  be 
robbed  with  impunity." 


[The  "monuments  of  genuine  glory"  are  the 
school  houses  raised  by  a  free  people.  These 
humble  but  mighty  institutions,  scattered  all 
over  our  soil,  are  the  fairest  ornaments  of  the 
land.  They  are  the  people's  colleges,  and  the 
temples  of  freedom.  Within  their  walls,  on 
this  day,  are  educating  four  millions  of  sove- 
reigns, each  one  to  be  a  citizen  king.  Our 
common  schools  are  the  sun  of  the  peo- 
ple's mind,  daily  scattering  light  and  warmth 
over  the  nation.  They  should  be  the  idols  of 
a  free  people,  and  around  them  all  should 
gather  to  honor  and  elevate,  for  they  are  the 
sources  and  guardians  of  freedom.  On  them 
the  people  rely  for  strength  and  wisdom  to 


ON   EDUCATION.  37 

overcome  "Ignorance,  that  worst  enemy  of  the 
human  race."  And  whoever  builds  a  school 
house,  or  teaches  a  good  school,  is  erecting 
a  monument  to  Freedom — that  man  should  the 
people  delight  to  honor. — Ed.] 


38  LORD   BROUGHAM 


PERNICIOUS    INFLUENCE    OP    ANNUAL    PARLIA- 
MENTARY   GRANTS    ON   PUBLIC    SCHOOLS. 

"Should  Parliament  show  a  disposition  to  as- 
sist those  societies  formed  for  the  education  of 
the  poor,  by  annual  grants,  no  one  can  doubt 
that  the  zeal  of  the  collectors  and  the  exertions 
of  the  contributors  would  be  immediately  re- 
laxed ;  nor  can  it  reasonably  be  questioned  that 
the  funds  so  bestowed  would  be  supplied  less 
economically.  We  might  expect  soon  to  see 
these  incomes  raised  for  the  education  of  the 
poor  in  less  considerable  towns,  amounting  to 
£100  or  £200  a  year,  in  larger  cities  to  £1,200, 
£1,500,  and  even  £2,000,  dwindle  to  nothing, 
while  others,  only  in  embryo,  might  perish ; 
and  many  beneficial  schemes  would  assuredly 
never  be  performed  at  all,  which  the  charity  of 
richer  classes,  left  to  itself,  neither  controlled 
nor  assisted,  might  speedily  have  conceived. 

The  line  traced  out  by  Parliament  with  re- 
gard to  the  populous  districts,  by  all  the  evi- 
dence given  to  the  committee,  seems  suffi- 


ON   EDUCATION.  39 

ciently  plain.  It  should  confine  its  assistance 
to  the  first  cost  of  the  establishments,  and  leave 
the  yearly  expenses  to  be  defrayed  in  every 
case  by  the  private  patrons.  The  difficulty 
generally  experienced  in  beginning  a  school, 
arises  from  the  expenses  of  providing  the 
school  room  and  the  master's  house.  In  many 
places  -the  inhabitants  could  raise  so  much  a 
year  to  keep  the  thing  going,  provided  it  were 
once  started ;  and  undertakings  are  often  thus 
abandoned  from  the  difficulty  of  meeting  this 
first  and  greatest  expense." 


[This  opinion  of  Lord  Brougham  is  opposed 
to  the  requirements  of  our  school  laws,  and 
equally  so,  we  think,  with  great  deference  to 
this  learned  legislator,  to  the  best  interests  of 
education. 

The  New  York  school  system  requires  each 
school  district  to  erect  a  school  house  and  sus- 
tain a  school  four  months  each  year  before  the 
inhabitants  can  be  entitled  to  any  portion  of  the 
school  fund. 


40  LORD    BROUGHAM 

If  the  legislature  should  erect  school  houses, 
the  people,  in  many  instances,  feeling  little  or 
no  interest  in  that  which  had  cost  them  nothing, 
and  which  they  in  person  had  not  asked  for, 
would  not  readily  or  with  spirit  organize  and 
sustain  a  school.  And  we  think  that  the  means 
and  feelings  of  the  people  of  England  do  not  so 
far  differ  from  us  as  to  sustain  this  opinion  of 
the  learned  Lord. 

Whenever  individual  or  legislative  aid  is  of- 
fered for  the  maintenance  of  a  school,  the  in- 
habitants of  the  district  should  first  be  required 
to  appropriate  a  certain  sum,  and  afterwards 
double  the  amount  they  are  to  receive  annually 
from  the  permanent  fund. 

Yet,  we  think  it  would  be  a  wiser  system 
still,  which  would  establish  a  fund  sufficient  to 
appropriate  to  every  child  in  the  state  between 
five  and  fifteen,  one  dollar  annually,  at  the 
same  time  compelling  the  inhabitants  of  the 
district  to  raise,  by  direct  lax  on  property,  an 
additional  amount  sufficient  to  maintain  a  good 
school  the  entire  year.  The  school  would  then 
be  free  and  open  to  all,  and  not  cursed  with 


ON   EDUCATION.  41 

that  odious  distinction  of  'pay-list  and  charity- 
list.' 

If  a  certain  sum  of  money  is  given  to  the 
schools,  as  in  Connecticut,  without  requiring 
the  people  to  lake  from  their  own  pockets 
twice  the  amount,  we  certainly  believe,  with 
Lord  Brougham,  that  "  the  exertions  of  the 
contributors  (the  parents)  would  be  imme- 
diately relaxed,  and  the  funds  so  bestowed 
would  be  applied  less  economically." 

Mention  is  made,  in  the  above  article,  of 
"the  Master's  house."  Such  a  building  is  sel- 
dom seen  with  us.  But  every  school  district, 
having  the  means,  should  be  as  zealous  to  pro- 
vide a  permanent  and  comfortable  home  for  the 
teacher  as  our  congregations  are  to  furnish  a 
minister  with  a  parish. 

How  cheap  and  contemptible  must  a  teacher 
become,  who,  under  the  "boarding-round" 
system,  is  tucked  by  rotation  into  the  corner  of 
every  kitchen  in  the  district ! — Ed.] 


42  LORD   BROUGHAM 

ON    THE    PREVENTION    OP    CRIME. 

"In  extirpating  crimes,  we  must  look  to  pre- 
vention rather  than  to  punishment.  Punish- 
ment lingers  behind  ;  it  moves  with  a  slow  and 
uncertain  step — it  advances  but  at  a  halting 
pace  in  its  pursuit  after  the  criminal :  while  all 
the  advantages  which  it  promises,  without  be- 
ing able  to  attain  them,  might  be  secured  by 
preventing  the  access  of  the  evil  principle  into 
minds  as  yet  untainted  with  its  baneful  influ- 
ence. By  the  infusion  of  good  principles,  and 
that  alone,  can  we  hope  to  eradicate  those 
crimes  with  which  society  is  at  present  har- 
rassed.  I  feel  that  every  day  is  lost  which  is 
not  devoted  to  this  great  purpose  by  the  law- 
giver and  the  government  of  this  close-peopled, 
wealthy,  and  manufacturing  country,  where  the 
variety — I  had  almost  said,  the  variegation  of 
the  moral  aspect  of  the  people  is  so  great — 
arising  from  the  variety  of  their  habits,  and 
from  the  consequences  which  inevitably  follow 
from  the  unequal  distribution  of  wealth;  where 
we  behold  all  the  extravagance  close  by  the 


ON   EDUCATION.  43 

squalid  wretchedness  of  poverty.  In  such  a 
state  of  things,  the  necessary  consequence  is, 
that  crime  will  abound.  In  such  a  state  of 
things,  then,  it  is  necessary  that  the  lawgiver 
and  the  ruler  should  take  every  means  to  ex- 
tend education,  and  thus  prevent  the  aptitude 
for  criminal  purposes." 


[  When  will  men  learn  that  education  is  the 
only  preventive  of  crime ;  and  that,  under  any 
government,  it  is  much  cheaper  to  educate  the 
infant  mind  than  to  support  the  aged  criminal  ? 
Edmund  Burke,  the  scholar,  philosopher,  and 
statesman,  long  since  chrystalized  this  drop  of 
truth,  and  sent  it  out  to  remain  in  men's  memo- 
ries for  ever,  when  he  said,  "  Education  is  the 
cheap  defence  of  nations."  And  what  is  our 
defence  ?  Not  standing  armies,  not  the  daily 
sight  of  the  military,  tramping  the  earth  with 
sabre  and  bayonet,  but  the  children  of  the  peo- 
ple, going  from  their  homes  to  their  schools,and 
from  their  schools  to  their  homes,  carrying  in 
their  hands  the  Testament  and  the  Spelling 


44  LOHD  BROUGHAM 

Book.  This  is  our  strength,  and  in  this  we 
have  put  our  trust.  But  the  age  has  become 
mechanical  and  physical,  and  no  longer  regards, 
or  if  so,  with  only  a  passing  notice,  the  true 
sources  of  power  and  perpetuity.  The  strife 
now  is  with  every  man  to  see  how  many  pock- 
ets he  can  empty  into  his  own.  It  is  an  age, 
not  for  education,  but  of  profit  and  loss,  ft 
does  not  adore  the  true  and  the  beautiful,  but 
calculates  the  gain.  "It  does  not  inculcate  on 
men  the  necessity  and  infinite  worth  of  moral 
goodness,  and  the  great  truth  that  our  happi- 
ness depends  on  the  mind  which  is  within  us. 
But  it  labors  to  make  us  believe  that  happiness 
depends  entirely  on  external  circumstances. 
It  is  no  longer  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  con- 
dition of  the  people,  but  their  physical,  practi- 
cal profit  and  loss  condition,  as  regulated  by 
public  laws.  The  heart  of  the  nation  breathes 
out  its  worship  toward  the  body-politic,  but  the 
soul-politic  is  forgotten." 
Every  thing  is  done 

"  Not  for  Conscience  sake,  but  for  Purse  sake." 


ON  EDUCATION.  45 

The  spirit  of  the  age  would  inquire,  with  the 
man,  who,  hearing  a  great  poem  extolled, 
asked  "  if  it  would  make  bread  cheaper  ?" 

It  was  remarked,  by  Daniel  Webster,  to  the 
students  of  Amherst,  "that  the  great  business 
of  life  was  education."  But  the  great  business 
now  is  to  make  laws.  We  live  to  make  laws, 
rather  than  make  laws  to  live  happy.  We 
watch  over  the  outward  machinery  of  life,  ra- 
ther than  the  inward  living  principle — we  wor- 
ship the  bellows-blower,  and  not  the  Organist. 

"  Ah !  what  is  life  thus  spent !  and  what  are  they 
But  frantic  who  thus  epend  itl" 

This  and  much  more  might  be  corrected,  if  the 
school  master  were  at  his  post,  and  worth  any 
thing  when  there.  Then  might  the  people 
begin  to  learn  that 

"  The  only  amaranthine  flower  on  earth 
Is  virtue  ;  the  only  lasting  treasure,  truth." 

Our  legislation  is  not  preventive  but  penal, 
It  is  much  readier  to  punish  the  crime,  than  to 
correct  the  circumstances  which  led  to  it.  It 
struggles  with  present  difficulties,  and  ia  nojt 


46  LORD   BROTTGHAM 

far  reaching.  If,  in  the  place  of  political  strife, 
the  people's  education  could  become  the  en- 
grossing topic,  we  might  soon  write  over  our 
prison  doors,  "  To  Let"— Ed.] 


ON  EDUCATION.  47 


RELIGION    AS    CONNECTED  WITH    EDUCATION. 

"A  religious  education  is  most  essential  to  the 
welfare  of  every  individual.  To  the  rich  it  is 
all  but  every  thing  ;  to  the  poor  it  may  be  said, 
without  a  figure,  to  be  everything.  It  is  to 
them  that  the  Christian  religion  is  especially 
preached — it  is  their  special  patrimony  ;  and  if 
the  Legislature  does  not  secure  for  them  a  re- 
ligious education  they  do  not,  in  my  opinion, 
half  execute  their  duty  to  their  fellow-crea- 
tures." 


["  Think  not  that  Liberty 

From  knowledge  and  Religion  e'er  will  dwell 

Apart,  companions  they 

Of  Heavenly  seed  connate." 

And  understandingly,  as  wisely  said  Lord 
Byron, 

"  The  Tree  of  Knowledge  is  not  that  of  lifo. 
Philosophy  and  science  and  the  springs 
Of  wonder,  and  the  wisdom  of  the  world, 
I  have  essayed,  and  in  my  mind  there  is 

4* 


48  LORD   BHOUGHAM 

A  power  to  make  these  subject  te  itself ; 
But  they  avail  not.''' 

And  again,  he  writes — 

"  I  have  known 

That  knowledge  is  not  happiness,  and  science 
But  an  exchange  of  ignorance  for  that 
Which  is  another  kind  of  ignorance." 

A  depraved  high-taught  intellect,  blowing 
where  it  listeth,  does  but  blight  and  scathe  the 
souls  of  men.  And  the  highest  good  of  all 
demands  that  every  child  should  be  taught, 

"  Not  only 

Principles  earthy  and  of  earth. 
But  Heavenly  ones  of  Heaven." 

Knowledge  without  religion  puffeth  up,  and 
is  vain  and  blind. 

"  For  never  yet  did  philanthropic  tube 
That  brings  the  planets  home  into  the  eye 
Of  observation,  and  discovers,  else 
Not  visible,  his  family  of  worlds 
Discover  him  that  rules  them  ;  such  a  veil 
Hangs  over  mortal  eyes,  blind  from  the  birth 
And  dark  in  things  divine.     Full  often  too, 
Our  wayward  intellect,  the  more  we  learn 


ON   EDUCATION.  49 

Of  nature,  overlooks  her  author  more  ; 

But  if  his  word  once  teach  us — shoot  a  ray 

Through  all  the  heart's  dark  chambers,  and  reveal 

Truths  undiscerned  but  by  that  holy  light, 

Then  all  is  plain.     Philosophy,  baptized 

In  the  pure  fountain  of  eternal  love 

Has  eyes  indeed  ;  and  viewing  all  she  sees 

As  meant  to  indicate  a  God  to  man. 

Learning  has  borne  such  fruit  in  other  days 

On  all  her  branches  :  piety  has  found 

Friends  in  the  friends  of  science,  and  true  pray'r 

Has  flowed  from  lips  wet  with  Castalian  dews. 

Such  was  thy  wisdom,  Newton,  child-like  sage  ! 

Sagacious  reader  of  the  works  of  God, 

And  in  his  word  sagacious.     Such,  too,  thine, 

Milton,  whose  genius  had  angelic  wings 

And  fed  on  manna  !" 

And  what  more  invigorating  to  the  faculties, 
than  exercise  on  moral  things,  "  the  least  of 
which  seem  infinite." — Ed.] 


50  LORD   BROUGHAM 


THE    HUMAN    MIND    NO    LONGER   IN    SHACKLES. 

"I  rejoice  to  think  that  it  is  not  necessary  to 
close  these  observations,  by  combating  objec- 
tions to  the  diffusion  of  science  among  the 
working  classes,  arising  from  considerations  of 
a  political  nature.  Happily  the  time  is  past 
and  gone  when  bigots  would  persuade  mankind 
that  the  lights  of  philosophy  were  to  be  ex- 
tinguished as  dangerous  to  religion ;  and  when 
tyrants  could  proscribe  the  instructors  of  the 
people  as  enemies  to  their  power.  It  is  prepos- 
terous to  imagine  that  the  enlargement  of  our 
acquaintance  with  the  laws  which  regulate  the 
universe,  can  dispose  to  unbelief.  It  may  be  a 
cure  for  superstition — for  intolerance  it  will  be 
a  most  certain  cure  ;  but  a  pure  and  true  reli- 
gion has  nothing  to  fear  from  the  greatest  ex- 
pansion which  the  understanding  can  receive, 
by  the  study  either  of  matter  or  of  mind.  The 
more  widely  science  is  diffused,  the  better  will 
the  Author  of  all  things  be  known,  and  the  less 
will  the  people  be  '  tossed  to  and  from  by  the 


ON   EDUCATION*  51 

sleight  of  men,  and  cunning  craftiness  whereby 
they  lie  in  wait  to  deceive.'  To  tyrants,  in- 
deed, and  bad  rulers,  the  progress  of  knowledge 
among  the  mass  of  mankind  is  a  just  object  of 
terror ;  it  is  fatal  to  them  and  their  designs ; 
they  know  this  by  an  unerring  instinct,  and  un- 
ceasingly they  dread  the  light.  But  they  will 
find  it  more  easy  to  curse  than  to  extinguish.  It 
is  spreading  in  spite  of  them,  even  in  those 
countries  where  arbitrary  power  deems  itself 
most  secure ;  and  in  England  any  attempt  to 
check  its  progress  would  only  bring  about  the 
sudden  destruction  of  him  who  should  be  in- 
sane enough  to  make  it.  Let  no  one  be  afraid 
of  the  bulk  of  the  community  becoming  too  ac- 
complished for  their  superiors.  Well  educated, 
and  even  well  versed  in  the  most  elevated  sci- 
ences, they  assuredly  may  become;  and  the 
worst  consequences  that  can  follow  to  their  su- 
periors, will  be,  that  to  deserve  being  called 
their  betters,  they  too  must  devote  themselves 
more  to  the  pursuit  of  solid  and  refined  learn- 
ing. The  present  public  seminaries  must  be 


52  LORD  BROUGHAM 

enlarged ;  and  some  of  the  greater  cities  of  the 
kingdom,  especially  the  metropolis,  must  not 
be  left  destitute  of  the  regular  means  within 
themselves  of  scientific  education." 


ON    EDUCATION.  53 


CAPACITY    OF    CHILDREN    TO    ACQUIRE 
KNOWLEDGE. 

"  The  child,  when  he  first  comes  into  the 
world,  may  care  very  little  for  what  is  passing 
around  him,  although  he  is,  of  necessity,  always 
learning  something,  even  at  the  first;  but,  after 
a  certain  period,  he  is  in  a  rapid  progress  of 
instruction ;  his  curiosity  becomes  irrepressi- 
ble ;  the  thirst  for  knowledge  is  predominating 
in  his  mind,  and  it  is  as  universal  as  insatiable. 
During  the  period  between  the  ages  of  eighteen 
months  to  two  years  and  six,  I  will  even  say 
five,  he  learns  much  more  of  the  material 
world — of  his  own  powers — of  the  nature  of 
other  bodies — even  of  his  mind,  and  of  others' 
minds,  than  he  ever  after  acquires,  during  all 
the  years  of  boyhood,  youth,  and  manhood. 
Every  child,  even  of  the  most  ordinary  capa- 
city, learns  more,  acquires  a  greater  mass  of 
knowledge,  and  of  a  more  useful  kind,  at  this 
tender  age,  than  the  greatest  philosopher  is 
enabled  to  build  up  during  the  longest  life  of 


64  LOUD   BROUGHAM 

the  most  successful  investigation,  even  were  he 
to  live  to  eighty  years  of  age,  and  pursue  the 
splendid  career  of  a  Newton  or  a  La  Place. 
The  knowledge  which  an  infant  stores  up — the 
ideas  which  are  generated  in  his  mind — are  so 
important  that,  if  we  could  suppose  them  to  be 
afterwards  obliterated,  all  the  learning  of  a  se- 
nior wrangler  at  Cambridge,  or  a  first-class 
man  at  Oxford,  would  be  as  nothing  to  it,  and 
would,  literally,  not  enable  its  victim  to  prolong 
his  existence  for  a  week.  This  being  altogether 
undeniable,  how  is  it  that  so  much  is  learned  at 
this  tender  age  ?  Not,  certainly,  by  teaching 
or  by  any  pains  taken  to  help  the  newly -arrived 
guest  of  this  world.  It  is  almost  all  accom- 
plished by  his  own  exertion — by  the  irrepressi- 
ble curiosity — the  thirst  for  knowledge,  only  to 
be  appeased  by  learning,  or  by  the  fatigues  and 
the  sleep  which  it  superinduces.  It  is  all 
effected  by  the  instinctive  spirit  of  inquiry, 
which  brings  his  mind  into  a  perpetual  course 
of  induction,  engaging  him  in  a  series  of  experi- 
ments, which  begins  when  he  awakes  in  the 
morning  and  only  ends  when  he  falls  asleep. 


ON   EDUCATION.  55 

All  he  learns  during  these  years  he  learns,  not 
only  without  pain,  but  with  an  intense  delight 
— a  relish  keener  than  appetite  known  at  our 
jaded  and  listless  age — and  learns  in  one-tenth 
of  the  time  which,  in  after  life,  would  be 
required  for  its  acquisition.  Perverse  and  ob- 
stinate habits  are  formed  before  the  age  of 
seven,  and  the  mind  that  might  have  been 
moulded  like  wet  clay  in  a  plastic  hand,  be- 
comes sullen,  untractable — obdurate,  after  that 
age.  To  this  inextinguishable  passion  for  all 
learning,  succeeds  a  dislike  for  instruction 
amounting  almost  to  disease.  Gentle  feelings 
— a  kind  and  compassionate  nature — an  ingen- 
uous, open  temper — unsuspecting,  and  wanting 
no  guard,  are  succeeded  by  violence,  and  reck- 
lessness, and  bad  morals,  and  base  fear,  and 
concealment,  and  even  falsehood,  till  he  is 
forced  to  school,  not  only  ignorant  of  what  is 
good,  but  also  much  learned  in  what  is  bad. 
These  are  the  effects  of  the  old  system ;  the 
postponed  education,  and  the  neglected  tuition 
of  infants." 

Speech,  February  24 , 1835, 

5 


56  LORD  BROUGHAM 


EFFECT  OF  HABIT  ON  THE  INFANT  MIND. 

"  I  trust  every  thing  to  habit ;  habit,  upon 
•which,  in  all  ages,  the  lawgiver,  as  well  as  the 
schoolmaster,  has  mainly  placed  his  reliance  ; 
habit,  which  makes  every  thing  easy,  and  casts 
all  difficulties  upon  the  deviation  from  the 
wonted  course.  Make  sobriety  a  habit,  and 
intemperance  will  be  hateful  and  hard  ;  make 
prudence  a  habit,  and  reckless  profligacy  will 
be  as  contrary  to  the  nature  of  the  child  grown 
an  adult,  as  the  most  atrocious  crimes  are  to 
any  of  your  lordships.  Give  a  child  the  habit 
of  sacredly  regarding  the  truth — of  carefully 
respecting  the  property  of  others — of  scrupu- 
lously abstaining  from  all  acts  of  improvidence 
which  can  involve  him  in  distress,  and  he  will 
just  as  little  think  of  lying,  or  cheating,  or  steal- 
ing, as  of  rushing  into  an  element  in  which  he 

cannot  breathe. " 

Ibid. 


ON     EDUCATION.  57 


EARLY   FORMATION   OF    GOOD   HABITS. 

"If  a  child  is  neglected  till  six  years  of  age,  no 
subsequent  education  can  recover  it.  If  to 
this  age  it  is  brought  up  in  dissipation  and  igno- 
rance, in  all  the  baseness  of  brutal  habits,  and 
in  that  vacancy  of  mind  which  such  habits  cre- 
ate, it  is  in  vain  to  attempt  to  reclaim  it  by 
teaching  it  reading  and  writing.  You  may 
teach  what  you  choose  afterwards,  but  if  you 
have  not  prevented  the  formation  of  bad  habits, 
you  will  teach  in  vain. 

An  infant  is  in  a  state  of  perpetual  enjoy- 
ment from  the  intensity  of  curiosity.  There  is 
no  one  thing  which  it  does  not  learn  sooner  or 
better  than  at  any  other  period  of  life,  and  with- 
out any  burden  to  itself  or  the  teacher.  But 
learning  is  not  all,  nor  the  principal  considera- 
tion— moral  habits  are  acquired  in  these 
schools  ;  and  by  their  means  children  are  kept 
out  of  the  nurseries  of  obscenity,  vulgarity, 
vice,  and  blasphemy.  In  the  establishment  at 
Westminster,  none  but  children  between  three 


58  LORD   BROUGHAM 

and  five  years  of  age  are  admitted,  and  there 
they  are  kept  out  of  the  streets,  and  taken  care 
of  by  a  parental  indulgent  dame,  while  their 
mothers  are  set  at  liberty  to  go  out  and  work. 
Whether  the  children  learn  less  or  more  is  of 
little  consequence.  The  moral  discipline  is 
the  great  consideration." 


[The  first  sentence  of  this  most  true  and  elo- 
quently expressed  extract,  contains  an  opinion 
directly  opposed  to  the  assertion  of  Thomas 
Jefferson  :  "  That  children  should  be  left  to  the 
dictates  of  Nature,  and  without  restraint  or  in- 
struction, until  seven  years  old."  And  it  was 
remarked  by  Milton,  in  his  "  Tractate :"  "  If 
you  do  not  teach  your  children,  the  Devil  will.'* 
But  Socrates  settled  the  question  long  since, 
when  he  said :  "  Vice  we  can  learn  of  our- 
selves, but  virtue  and  knowledge  require  a 
teacher."  And  the  danger  of  having  nothing 
to  do  is  quaintly  expressed  by  John  Bunyan  : 
"  The  Devil  tempts  every  man,  but  the  idle; 
man  tempts  the  DeviU" 


ON  EDUCATION.  59 

Habit  has  such  an  influence  upon  all,  that  it 
has  been  called  "second  nature,"  and  we  cannot 
commence  too  early  in  doing  right,  for  practice 
then  will  soon  make  that  way  the  most  pleasing. 
Lord  Brougham  has  given  it  as  his  opinion, 
"  that  children  have  learned  more  at  the  age  of 
six,  than  they  ever  learn  afterwards ;"  that 
they  should  be  rightly  and  wisely  instructed 
during  this  active,  susceptible  period,  we  think 
no  one  will  deny. 

So  potent  is  the  power  of  habit  that  men 
usually  act  first,  and  think  afterwards.  We 
act,  and  then  devise  within  ourselves  how  we 
may  conform  our  opinion  to  our  actions.  These 
well  known  truths  show  all  but  the  omnipo- 
tence of  habit,  which  is  formed  early  in  life, 
and  determines  the  character  of  manhood, — 
Ed.] 


5* 


60  LORD   BROUGHAM 


BENEFITS    RESULTING    FROM    INFANT    SCHOOLS. 

"  I  consider  the  establishment  of  infant 
schools  as  one  of  the  most  important  improve- 
ments,— I  was  going  to  say  in  the  education, 
but  I  ought  rather  to  say  in  the  civil  polity  of 
this  country, — that  have  for  centuries  been 
made.  Whoever  knows  the  habits  of  children 
at  an  earlier  age  than  that  of  six  or  seven — the 
age  at  which  they  generally  attend  the  infant 
schools — whoever  understands  their  tempers, 
their  habits,  their  feelings,  or  their  talents,  is 
well  aware  of  their  capacity  of  receiving  in- 
struction long  before  the  age  of  six.  The  child 
is,  at  three  and  four,  and  even  partially  at  two 
and  under,  perfectly  capable  of  receiving  that 
sort  of  knowledge  which  forms  the  basis  of  all 
education;  but  the  observers  of  children,  the 
student  of  the  human  mind,  has  learnt  only 
half  his  lesson,  if  his  experience  has  not  taught 
him  something  more  :  it  is  not  enough  to  say 
that  a  child  can  learn  a  great  deal  before  the 
age  of  six  years ;  the  truth  is,  that  he  can  learn, 


ON   EDUCATION.  61 

and  does  learn,  a  great  deal  more  before  that 
age  than  all  he  ever  learns  or  can  learn  in  all 
his  after  life.     His  attention  is   more  easily 
roused  in  a  new  world :  it  is  more  vivid  in  a 
fresh  existence ;  it  is  excited  with  less  effort, 
and  it  engraves  ideas  deeper  in  the  mind.     His 
memory  is  more  retentive  in  the  same  propor- 
tion in  which  his  attention  is  more  vigorous ; 
bad  habits  are  not  formed,  nor  is  his  judgment 
warped  by  unfair  bias  ;  good  habits  may  easily 
be  acquired,  and  the  pain  of  learning  be  almost 
destroyed;  a  state  of  listless  indifference  has 
not  began  to  poison  all  joy,  nor  has  indolence 
paralysed  his  powers,  or  bad  passions  quenched 
or  perverted  useful  desires.     He  is  all  activity, 
inquiry,    exertion,  motion — he  is  eminently  a 
curious  and  learning  animal ;  and  this  is  the 
common  nature  of  all  children;  not  merely  of 
clever,  and  lively  ones,  but  of  all  who  are  en- 
dowed with  ordinary  intelligence,  and  who  in 
a  few  years  become,  through  neglect,  the  stu- 
pid boys  and  dull  men  we  see." 


62  LORD    BROUGHAM 

[Yet,  during  this  age,  which  "is  all  activity, 
inquiry,  exercise  and  motion,"  the  nurse  that 
can  keep  the  child  from  breaking  its  neck  is 
deemed  an  all-sufficient  teacher.  We  think 
the  eulogium  pronounced  here,  on  infant 
schools,  far  too  high  and  unqualified.  They 
are  not,  at  present,  as  frequent  or  popular  as 
they  were  a  few  years  since.  An  infant  school 
is  a  benefit,  and  should  be  established  in  such 
communities  only  where  the  mothers,  from  the 
nature  of  the  employment,  must  leave  their 
children  the  larger  part  of  the  day.  It  is  better 
to  have  children  in  an  infant  school  than  to  let 
them  run  in  the  streets,  or  to  remain  alone,  and 
tied  to  a  piece  of  furniture  in  the  house.  But 
children  whose  parents  have  leisure  and  educa- 
tion should  never  be  sent  to  one  of  these 
schools,  as  they  are  now  conducted.  The 
mother  is  the  best  companion  and  the  best 
teacher.  And  the  answer  to  the  often-repeated 
question,  "  Are  infant  schools  a  benefit  or 
not  ?"  depends  entirely  upon  the  character  of 
the  neighborhood  where  they  may  be  estab- 
lished. They  were  all  the  rage,  and  great 


ON   EDUCATION.  63 

places  of  resort,  a  few  years  since,  but  seldom 
is  it  now  that  we  meet  with  one.  This  forced, 
hot-house  growth  was  not  found  healthy  or 
lasting.  And  often  have  we  been  obliged  to 
exclaim  with  another : 

"  Oh  !  that  so  rich  a  harvest  should  be  marred 
By  thrusting  in  the  sickle  e'er  'tis  ripe." — 


64  LORD  BROUGHAM 


EDUCATION     NO     DETRIMENT    TO    THE     POOR — 

HISTORICAL    EVIDENCE    IN    SUPPORT 

OF    EDUCATION. 

"  It  appears  that,  since  the  peace  of  Amiens, 
and  in  consequence  of  what  has  taken  place  at 
the  French  revolution,  the  education  of  the 
poor  classes  is  objected  to  by  some  persons  in 
this  country,  on  the  ground  that  it  would  make  a 
Tian  a  worse  subject.  This  is,  however,  a 
modern  idea.  I  can  show,  from  historical  doc- 
uments and  authorities,  that  the  education  of 
the  poor  is  by  no  means  a  novel  object,  but  has 
been  held  in  early  ages,  and  by  the  wisest  gov- 
ernments, the  best  security  for  the  morals,  the 
subordination,  and  the  peace  of  countries. 

In  France,  in  the  year  1582,  under  the  reign 
of  Henry  III.,  the  States  general  met,  and  the 
noblesse  of  the  day  presented  a  petition  to  the 
sovereign,  praying  that  pains  and  penalties 
might  be  imposed  upon  those  who  would  not 
send  their  children  to  school ;  and  nearly  at  the 
same  time  the  Scotch  Parliament  (perhaps  the 


ON   EDUCATION.  65 

most  aristocratical  body  in  existence)  passed  a 
law  that  every  gentleman  should  send,  at  least, 
his  eldest  son  to  school,  in  order  to  learn  gram- 
mar. 

In  the  sixteenth  century  an  order  was  made 
that  all  children  should  attend  school,  and  that 
alms  and  charities  should  be  refused  to  those 
persons  whose  children  did  not  so  attend.  I 
have  also  seen  a  charter  of  King  David  I.,  dated 
1241,  in  which  mention  was  made  of  various 
public  schools  in  Roxburgh,  now  a  small  vil- 
lage. 

Another  charter,  dated  1163,  spoke  of  the 
school  of  Stirling.  Another  in  1244,  noticed 
the  number  of  schools  in  Ayr  ;  and  a  fourth, 
dated  in  1256,  made  honorable  mention  of  the 
praiseworthy  manner  in  which  the  schools  of 
other  districts  were  conducted.  Shortly  before 
the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes,  in  1680, 
the  most  intolerant  period  of  French  history, 
was  founded  the  first  society  in  the  world,  and, 
for  a  long  time,  the  only  one,  for  the  advance- 
ment of  education.  Its  founder  was  the  cele- 
brated Pere  de  la  Salle,  and  the  order  was 


66  LORD   BROUGHAM 

"  Les  Freres  des  Ignorants"  and  their  vow 
was  the  foundation  of  schools. 

That    society    had    established    numerous 
schools  for   the  education  of  the  poor.      In 
1724,  which  was  also  a  most  intolerant  period, 
Pope  Benedict  issued  a  most  celebrated  bull, 
authorizing    and    encouraging    the    extensive 
establishment  of  places  of  education  for  the 
poor.     In  that  bull  the  Pope  mentioned  the  ex- 
ample of  the  "Pere  de  la  Salle,"  and  expressed 
himself  in  the  following  words  : — "Ex  ignoran- 
tia  omnium  origine  melorum,  praesertim  in  illis 
qui  egestate   oppressi   sunt,   et  qui  elementa 
Christianas  religionis  persaspe  ignorant."     A 
more  accurate,  a  more  scientific  description  of 
ignorance,  was  never  given,  even  by  Voltaire, 
than  in  this  instance,  was  promulgated  by  the 
enemy  of  that  great  philosopher — by  Benedict. 
I  now  turn  to  a  different  authority.     From 
that  of  "Pere  de  la  Salle,"  and  his  ignorantium 
brotherhood,  from  the  advice  of  the  Pope,  to 
whose  bull  I  have  alluded,  I  come  to  the  evi- 
dence, in  1728,  of  the  lieutenant  of  police  at 
Paris,  a  man  who  was,  perhaps,  much  more 


ON   EDUCATION.  67 

conversant  than  either  with  the  effects  of  igno- 
rance. The  gentleman  stated  that  from  the 
period  of  the  establishment  of  the  ignorantium 
schools  in  Paris,  the  expense  of  the  police  in 
the  Faubourg  St.  Antoine  was  reduced  30,000 
francs  annually.  This  was  the  evidence,  be  it 
remembered,  not  of  a  theoretical,  but  of  a  prac- 
tical man.  About  the  same  time,  a  remarka- 
ble circumstance  happened  in  this  country.  la 
1714,  Mandeville  published  his  "  Fable  of  the 
Bees,"  condemning  the  charity  schools  of  that 
day,  because,  he  said,  the  children  learnt  noth- 
ing there  but  to  lisp  '  High  Church  and  Or- 
mond ;'  and  in  nine  years  afterwards  the  grand 
jury  of  the  county  of  Middlesex  thought  fit  to 
present  him  as  a  fit  object  for  prosecution,  and 
he  was  accordingly  prosecuted  for  endeavoring 
to  prevent  the  advancement  of  education  and 
religious  instruction,  for  irreligion,  for  decrying 
the  universities,  and  for  reprobating  the  instruc- 
tion of  youth. 

Thus,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  an  impious 
man  and  an  atheist  was  at  that  time  occupying 

6 


68  LORD   BROUGHAM 

the  ground  since  mistakenly  filled  (though  only 
for  a  moment)  by  the  pious  and  the  religious, 
who  in  our  own  day,  worked  upon  by  false 
philosophy  and  the  evil  consequences  of  the 
French  Revolution,  have  endeavored  to  discou- 
rage the  progress  of  knowledge.  Mandeville 
charged  the  education  of  his  time  with  instilling 
principles  of  disloyalty,  and  an  antagonist  of 
Mandeville's,  in  a  letter  to  Lord  Carteret,  re- 
plied, 'I  defy  you  to  prove  this;  but  enter 
into  any  of  the  schools,  and  if  you  at  any  time 
find  disloyalty  inculcated,  let  the  schools  be 
pulled  down.'  Now  this  is  precisely  my  ar- 
gument. I  have  heard  that  schools  have  been 
established  in  Lancashire  and  Cheshire,  incul- 
cating unconstitutional  doctrines,  radical  doc- 
trines; why,  then,  my  advice  is,  if  there  are  such 
schools,  let  them  be  shut  up. 

I  next  come  to  a  letter  or  circular  of  the 
Pope,  through  the  Cardinal  Fontana,  to  the 
Irish  prelates,  in  1819.  In  this  letter  is  pointed 
out  the  poison  which  was  inculcated  into  the 
minds  of  the  people  from  allowing  them  to 


ON     EDUCATION.  89 

read  unauthorized  versions  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. The  right  reverend  father  said,  with 
true  philosophy,  'It  is  not  enough  to  prevent 
such  works ;  in  order  to  prevent  your  flock 
from  being  badly  educated,  you  must  your- 
selves educate  them  well.'  This  was  un- 
doubtedly the  language  which,  as  a  pious  man, 
and  as  head  of  the  church  to  which  he  belonged, 
he  ought  to  use.  The  Pope  went  on  to  say, 
*  In  order  to  avoid  the  snares  of  the  tempter, 
I  beseech  the  holy  brotherhood,  through  the 
love  of  Christ,  to  work  day  and  night  in  the 
establishment  of  Catholic  Schools,  in  order  to 
prevent  the  dissemination  of  improper  doc- 
trines.' Now  this  is  exactly  my  argument. 
Let  us,  in  order  to  prevent  bad  impressions, 
inculcate  those  which  are  sound,  and  this  is 
only  to  be  done  by  education.  I  am  happy  to 
have  such  high  authority  with  me  on  this  point. 
The  whole  of  this  branch  of  the  argument  may 
be  summed  up  in  the  memorable  words  of  the 
great  Lord  Bacon,  *  Luces  enim  naturam 
puram,'  &c. — that  the  light  of  knowledge  was 


70  LORD   BROUGHAM 

in  itself  pure  and  bright,  however  it  might  be 
perverted  and  polluted  by  wickedness  or  imper- 
fect instruction  ;  and  that  the  channels  by  which 
it  poured  in  upon  the  hunan  species  ought  to  be 
ever  kept  open  and  undefiled." 


ON   EDUCATION.  71 


INSTRUCTING  THE  POOR  IN  LATIN  AND  GREEK — - 

MILTON  AND  BURNS    QUOTED    IN   SUPPORT 

OF    EDUCATION. 

"It  has  been  urged  against  me,  that  I  wish  the 
poorer  classes  to  be  taught  Greek  and  Latin, 
and  fluxions  and  other  knowledge,  which  would 
draw  them  from  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  and 
from  their  various  humble  occupations.  I 
really  have  no  such  wild  project  in  contempla- 
tion. I  agree  with  one  of  the  wisest  men  that 
ever  lived,  that,  to  one  of  the  rank  to  which  I 
allude,  a  knowledge  of  all  the  languages  of  the 
globe  cannot,  in  point  of  utility,  be  put  in  com-, 
petition  with  an  acquaintance  with  a  single  me- 
chanical art. 

Milton,  the  most  learned  man  of  a  learned 
age,  endowed  with  many  rare  accomplishments 
of  genius  and  of  acquirement,  in  his  small 
'Tractate  of  Education,'  has  expressed  him- 
self in  the  following  forcible  and  beautiful  lan- 
guage:— 'And  though  a  linguist  should  prido 


72  LORD   BROUGHAM 

himself  to  have  all  the  tongues  that  Babel  cleft 
the  world  into,  yet  if  he  had  not  studied  the 
solid  things  in  them,  as  well  as  the  words  and 
lexicons,  he  were  nothing  so  much  to  be 
esteemed  a  learned  man  as  any  yeoman  or 
tradesman  competently  wise  in  his  mother-dia- 
lect only.'  Still,  however,  I  am  persuaded 
that,  if  a  poor  man  had  a  little  more  education, 
it  would  be  no  bar  to  his  industrious  occupa- 
tions. 

Without  dwelling  upon  theoretical  opinions, 
I  will  quote  a  practical  authority  of  a  remarka- 
ble nature,  in  a  letter  from  Mr.  Gilbert  Burns, 
brother  to  the  immortal  poet  of  that  name,  who, 
though  a  self-taught  man,  will  pass  down  to 
posterity  with  the  name  of  his  country,  a  man 
who  has  by  his  songs  rendered  that  country 
much  dearer  to  its  natives,  as  must  be  felt  by 
all  those  belonging  to  that  country  who  have 
ever  visited  foreign  climes.  I  will  read  an  ex- 
tract of  a  letter  from  the  brother  of  that  man  to 
Mr.  Currie,  and  it  is  the  more  worthy  of  atten- 
tion as  the  hand  that  wrote  it  had,  an  hour  be- 


ON    EDUCATION.  73 

fore,  been  probably  engaged  in  directing  the 
plough. 

Mr.  Gilbert  Burns,  in  his  letter,  says,  '  I  can 
say,  from  my  own  experience,  that  there  is  no 
sort  of  farm-labor  inconsistent  with  the  most 
refined  and  pleasurable  state  of  mind  that  I  am 
acquainted  with,  arising  from  a  liberal  educa- 
tion, thrashing  alone  excepted.'  I  will  here 
beg  leave  to  observe  that  the  writer  does  not 
clothe  his  ideas  in  perhaps  as  fine  or  as  rounda- 
bout a  dress  as  would  be  used  by  some  other 
gentleman;  he  stated  what  arose  in  his  mind 
clearly  but  simply.  He  had,  perhaps,  been 
thrashing  shortly  before,  and  had,  therefore, 
felt  the  irksomeness  of  the  employment.  He 
went  on  to  state,  '  That  indeed  I  always  con- 
sidered an  insupportable  drudgery,  and  I  think 
an  ingenious  mechanic  who  invented  the  thrash- 
ing-machine ought  to  have  a  statue  among  the 
benefactors  of  his  country,  in  a  corresponding 
niche  with  the  first  introducer  and  cultivator  of 
potatoes.  I  maintain,  moreover,  that,  as  the 
sort  of  dim  religious  awe  is  wearing  off  which 
used  hitherto  to  guard  the  morals  of  the  people 


74  LORD  BROUGHAM 

in  this  part  of  the  world,  from  a  great  variety  of 
causes,  men  will  go  suddenly  into  the  other  ex- 
treme, if  they  be  not  educated  so  as  to  enable 
them  to  see  the  separation  between  the  essence 
of  true  religion  and  the  gross  system  so  often 
confounded  with  it.'  So  much  for  my  peasant. 
He  came  at  once  to  the  point,  and  I  wish  that 
many  other  persons  whom  I  know  would  do  the 
same." 


ON  EDUCATION.  75 


SNEERS   AT   EDUCATION. 

"The  enemies  of  improvement  have,  indeed, 
of  late  years,  confessed  by  their  conduct,  the 
hopelessness  of  any  further  attempt  to  obstruct 
its  progress  :  they  have  bent  before  the  wave, 
from  fear  of  being  swept  away  by  it ;  and  they 
now  have  recourse  to  sneers  and  jibes  at  the 
instruction  of  the  people.  We  are  called 
Schoolmasters — a  title  in  which  I  glory,  and 
never  shall  feel  shame.  Our  Penny  Science 
is  ridiculed  by  those  who  have  many  pence  and 
little  knowledge ;  our  lectures  are  laughed  at, 
as  delivered  to  groups  of  what  those  ignorant 
people  in  fine  linen  and  gaudy  attire  call,  after 
the  poet,  'lean  unwashed  artificers;'  a  class 
of  men  that  should  be  respected,  not  derided 
by  those  who,  were  they  reduced  to  work  for 
their  bread,  would  envy  the  skill  of  the  men 
they  now  look  down  upon.  Let  such  proud 
creatures  enjoy  the  fancied  triumph  of  their 
wit ;  we  care  not  for  their  light  artillery  (if,  in- 
deed, their  heavy  jests  can  so  be  termed)  half  so 


76  LORD   BROT7GHAM 

much  as  we  did  for  their  serious  opposition. 
If  they  are  much  amused  with  our  penny  sci- 
ences, I  hope,  before  long,  to  see  them  laugh 
twice  as  much  at  our  penny  politics  ;  because, 
when  the  abominable  taxes  upon  the  knowledge 
which  most  concerns  the  people  are  removed — 
I  mean  the  Newspaper  Stamp — we  shall  have 
a  universal  diffusion  of  sound  political  know- 
ledge among  all  classes  of  the  community  ;  and 
if  lectures  divert  them  so  mightily  now,  I  can 
tell  them  that  preparation  is  making  for  afford- 
ing them  much  more  entertainment  in  the  same 
kind  by  a  very  ample  extension  of  the  present 
system  of  lecturing,  and  by  including  politics 
in  the  course." 

Liverpool  Speech,  July  20,  1839. 


ON  EDUCATION.  77 

THE    PRUSSIAN  SYSTEM    OF   EDUCATION    CAN 
NEVER   BE    ADOPTED    IN    THIS    COUNTRY. 

"  Of  one  thing  I  am  morally  certain,  that  in 
this  country  the  Prussian  system  of  education 
can  never  be  adopted.  The  system  of  educa- 
tion in  Prussia  is  arbitrary,  is  absolutely  com- 
pulsory. It  is  established  under  the  bayonet, 
and  enforced  under  the  rigor  of  military  pun- 
ishment, under  the  dread  of  the  sergeant,  un- 
der the  fear  of  the  corporal.  Such  a  system 
may  do  very  well  for  a  country  which,  in  reali- 
ty, is  but  one  great  camp,  but  it  would  never 
be  tolerated  in  England.  I  do  not  believe  that 
any  one  measure  could  be  devised  by  the  mind 
of  man  so  surely,  so  admirably  calculated  to 
make  a  system  of  education  unpopular  as  that 
of  compelling  people  to  send  their  children  to 
school.  God  forbid  that  such  a  system  should 
ever  be  attempted  in  this  country.  I  am  deci- 
dedly averse  to  the  introduction  of  a  compul- 
sory system  in  any  sense  whatever,  either  by 
forcing  parents  to  send  their  children  to  school 
under  certain  penalties,  or  of  depriving  them 


78  LORD   BROT7GHAM 

of  certain  privileges  if  they  refuse  to  let  them 
attend." 


[In  this  we  differ  with  the  noble  writer.  We 
believe  the  State  has — and  ought  to  exercise — 
the  right  of  compelling  parents  to  send  their 
children  to  school.  What !  has  the  State  a 
right  to  send  a  man  to  the  gallows,  and  no  right 
to  send  him  to  school  ? 

Says  a  writer  in  the  Foreign  Quarterly  Re- 
view, (No.  XXIV.)  "  If  children  provided  their 
own  education,  and  could  be  sensible  of  its 
importance  to  their  happiness,  it  would  be  a 
want,  but  as  it  is  provided  by  the  parents,  and 
paid  for  by  those  who  do  not  profit  by  its  re- 
sults, it  is  a  duty,  and  is  therefore  liable  to  be 
neglected." 

The  following  is  that  obnoxious  part  of  the 
Prussian  School  Law,  referred  to  by  our  au- 
thor.— See  M.  Cousin's  Report. 

"  Care  is  every  where  to  be  taken  to  furnish 
necessitous  parents  with  the  means  of  sending 
their  children  to  school,  by  providing  them  with 


ON   EDUCATION.  79 

the  things  necessary  for  their  instruction,  or 
with  such  clothes  as  they  stand  in  need  of." 

"  If,  however,  parents  and  masters  neglect 
sending  their  children  punctually  to  school,  the 
clergymen  must  first  explain  to  them  the  hea- 
vy responsibility  which  rests  upon  them  ;  after 
that,  the  school-committee  must  summon  them 
to  appear  before  it,  and  address  severe  remon- 
strances to  them.  No  excuse  whatever  shall 
be  deemed  valid  (exclusive  of  the  proof  that 
the  education  of  the  child  is  otherwise  provid- 
ed for,)  except  certificate  of  illness  signed  by 
the  medical  man  or  the  clergyman  ;  the  absence 
of  the  parents  and  masters  which  had  occasion- 
ed that  of  the  children  ;  or,  lastly,  the  want  of 
the  necessary  clothing,  funds  for  providing 
which  had  not  been  forthcoming. 

"  If  these  remonstrances  are  not  sufficient, 
coercive  measures  are  then  to  be  resorted  to 
against  the  parents,  guardians,  or  masters. — 
The  children  are  to  be  taken  to  school  by  an 
officer  of  the  police,  or  the  parents  are  to  be 
sentenced  to  graduated  punishments  or  fines  : 


80  LORD   BHOrGHAH 

and  in  case  they  are  unable  to  pay,  to  imprison- 
ment or  labor,  for  the  benefit  of  the  parish." 

"  The  parents  who  shall  have  incurred  such 
sentences  shall  be  equally  incapable  of  taking 
any  part  in  the  administration  of  a  parish,  or 
of  holding  any  office  connected  with  the  church 
or  the  school."*  Ed,} 

»  Titl«  IIj 


JN   EDUCATION.  81 


THE    THIRST   AFTER    KNOWLEDGE, 

*'  When  we  turn  from  the  considerable  towns 
and  populous  districts  to  parts  of  the  country 
more  thinly  peopled,  we  perceive  a  different 
state  of  things  in  all  but  one  essential  particular, 
in  which  every  quarter  of  the  kingdom  seems 
to  agree.  The  means  of  instruction  are  scanty : 
there  is  little  reason  to  look  for  their  increase, 
but  the  poor  are  everywhere  anxious  for  educa- 
tion. From  the  largest  cities  to  the  most  soli- 
tary villages  ;  to  remote  districts  where  the  in- 
habitants live  dispersed,  without  even  a  hamlet 
to  gather  them  together ;  whether  in  the  busi- 
est haunts  of  men,  the  seats  of  refinement  and 
civility,  where  the  general  diffusion  of  know- 
ledge and  the  experience  of  its  advantages  or 
pleasures  might  be  expected  to  stamp  a  high 
value  on  it  in  all  men's  eyes  ;  or  in  the  distant 
tracts  of  the  country,  frequented  by  men  bare- 
ly civilized  and  acquainted  with  the  blessings 
of  education  rather  by  report  than  observation ; 
in  every  corner  of  the  country  the  poor  are 


82  LORD   BROUGHAM 

deeply  impressed  with  a  sense  of  its  vast  im- 
portance, and  willing  to  make  any  sacrifice 
within  the  bounds  of  possibility  to  attain  this 
object  of  their  ardent  and  steady  desire.  All 
the  evidence  collected  evinces  the  truth  of  this 
statement,  so  honorable  to  the  character  of  this 
country ;  and  I  make  it  with  a  feeling  of  plea- 
sure and  pride,  because  it  shows  the  existence 
of  a  noble  spirit  in  Englishmen,  which  all  the 
calamities  of  the  times  have  not  been  able  to 
undermine  and  subdue." 


[Cheering  and  honorable  indeed  is  it  to  Eng- 
land, if  "in  every  corner  of  the  country,  the 
poor  are  deeply  impressed  with  a  sense  of  the 
vast  importance  of  education,  and  willing  to 
make  any  sacrifice  within  the  bounds  of  possi- 
bility to  attain  it."  Not  so,  however,  we  regret 
to  say,  is  it  with  us,  for  in  the  city  of  New-York 
where  the  public  schools  are  open  and  free 
to  all,  the  parents  and  guardians  of  twenty-five 
thousand  children  are  so  indifferent  to  these 
fountains  of  learning  and  to  the  education  of 


ON  EDUCATION.  83 

their  children,  as  to  let  this  vast  number  grow 
up  to  manhood  without  one  day's  instruction. — 
Painful  and  surprising  was  it  to  all,  when  as- 
sured by  a  report  a  few  months  since  from  our 
Public  School  Board,  that  the  city  of  New- 
York  had  twenty-five  thousand  children  who 
could  not  be  induced  by  the  most  unwearied  ef- 
forts of  a  zealous,  judicious  Agent,  to  attend 
the  public  schools  ;  although  the  school  board 
were  earnestly  beseeching  all,  and  every  one, 
to  receive  instruction  "  without  money  and 
without  price." 

The  cause  of  this  indifference  and  neglect, 
is  an  important  matter  to  all,  and  we  will  en- 
deavor, in  part,  at  least,  to  explain  it. 

Every  effort,  individual  and  legislative,  in 
the  United  States  to  promote  Education,  has 
been  to  cheapen  knowledge ;  and  thus  to  dif- 
fuse it  more  generally  among  the  people.  But 
a  cheap  diffusing  system,  has  not  given  an  edu- 
cation sufficient  to  show  the  people  that 
"knowledge  is  power."  Our  education  has 
been  so  limited  and  defective  that  we  have  no- 
thing to  sustain  us,  when  we  instance  the  leam- 


84  LORD  BROTTGHAM 

ed  as  an  argument  in  favor  of  an  education  j 
and  so  unproductive  is  the  little  schooling  we 
get,  the  question  is  every  day  asked  "  what 
good  does  an  education  do  ?"  The  study  al- 
most exclusively,  of  "words,  words,  words  Po- 
lonius,"  and  a  few  servile  memoriter  recitations, 
do  not  make  the  student  a  living,  acting  argu- 
mentfor  education,  "seen  and  read  by  all  men." 
But  on  the  contrary,  as  these  cheap  schools 
have  prepared  them  not  to  show  their  learning 
to  the  ignorant,  but  their  ignorance  to  the  learn- 
ed, or  those  naturally  sagacious,  an  education 
is  practically  disregarded,  if  not  openly  re- 
jected. 

Our  true'policy  is,  then,  not  to  multiply  cheap 
schools,  to  be  a  "  by-word  and  a  disgrace"  and 
to  give  the  people  instruction  so  limited  and 
full  of  error,  as  to  make  an  education  despis- 
ed ;  but  to  improve  the  character  of  the  schools, 
that  they  may  give  an  education  that  will,  as 
clear  as  noon-day,  convince  all,  that  knowledge 
is  productive,  and  the  highest  source  of  hap- 
piness and  honor.  We  write  and  speak,  and 
annually  spend  our  thousands  to  convict  pa- 


ON  EDUCATION.  85 

rents  of  their  obligations  to  educate  their  chil- 
dren ;  but  much  less  time  and  money  spent  in 
making  the  school  better,  would  be  far  more 
successful  in  securing  pupils.  The  American 
people  in  their  utilitarian  spirit,  and  worship  of 
that  which  is  available,  must  see  that  an  edu- 
cation does  confer  a  palpable,  acknowledged 
advantage,  before  they  will  desire  it.—Ed.] 


88  LORD   BROUGHAM 


THE    MARCH    OF     "  INTELLECT      AND    ITS     CON- 

TEMNERS. GLORY  OF  THE  SCHOOLMASTER 

AND  THE  CONQUEROR. 

"  But  there  is  nothing  which  these  adversaries 
of  improvement  are  more  wont  to  make  them- 
selves merry  with,  than  what  is  termed  the 
"  march  of  intellect ;"  and  here  I  will  confess, 
that  I  think,  as  far  as  the  phrase  goes,  they  are 
in  the  right.  It  is  very  absurd,  because  a  ve- 
ry incorrect  expression.  It  is  little  calculated 
to  describe  the  operation  in  question.  It  does 
not  picture  an  image  at  all  resembling  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  true  friends  of  mankind.  It 
much  more  resembles  the  progress  of  the  ene- 
my to  all  improvement.  The  conqueror  moves 
in  a  march.  He  stalks  onward  with  the  "  pride, 
pomp,  and  circumstance  of  war," — banners 
flying, — shouts  rending  the  air, — guns  thunder- 
ing,— and  martial  music  pealing,  to  drown  the 
shrieks  of  the  wounded,  and  the  lamentations 
for  the  slain.  Not  thus  the  Schoolmaster,  in 
his  peaceful  vocation.  He  meditates  and  pre- 


ON    EDUCATION.  87 

pares  in  secret  the  plans  which  are  to  bless 
mankind  ;  he  slowly  gathers  round  him  those 
who  are  to  further  their  execution, — he  quietly, 
though  firmly,  advances  in  his  humble  path, 
laboring  steadily,  but  calmly,  till  he  has  open- 
ed to  the  light  all  the  recesses  of  ignorance,  and 
torn  up  by  the  roots  the  weeds  of  vice.  His 
is  a  progress  not  to  be  compared  with  any  thing 
like  a  march, — but  it  leads  to  a  far  more  brilliant 
triumph,  and  to  laurels  more  imperishable  than 
the  destroyer  of  his  species,  the  scourge  of  the 
world,  ever  won. 

Such  men — men  deserving  the  glorious  title 
of  Teachers  of  Mankind,  I  have  found,  labor- 
ing conscientiously,  though,  perhaps,  obscure- 
ly, in  their  blessed  vocation,  wherever  I  have 
gone.  I  have  found  them,  and  shared  their 
fellowship,  among  the  daring,  the  ambitious, 
the  ardent,  the  indomitably  active  French  ;  I 
have  found  them  among  the  persevering,  reso- 
lute, industrious  Swiss  ;  I  have  found  them 
among  the  laborious,  the  warm-hearted,  the  en- 
thusiastic Germans  ;  I  have  found  them  among 


88  LORD  BROUGHAM 

the  high-minded,  but  enslaved  Italians  ;  and  in 
our  own  country,  God  be  thanked,  their  num- 
bers every  where  abound,  and  are  every  day 
increasing.  Their  calling  is  high  and  holy ; 
their  fame  is  the  property  of  nations  ;  their  re- 
nown will  fill  the  earth  in  after  ages,  in  propor- 
tion as  it  sounds  not  far  off  in  their  own  times. 
Each  one  of  these  great  teachers  of  the  world, 
possessing  his  soul  in  peace  :  performs  his  ap- 
pointed course — awaits  in  patience  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  promises,  resting  from  his  labors, 
bequeathes  his  memory  to  the  generation  whom 
his  works  have  blessed,  and  sleeps  under  the 
humble,  but  not  inglorious  epitaph,  commemo- 
rating '  one  in  whom  mankind  lost  a  friend, 
and  no  man  got  rid  of  an  enemy.' " 


[In  the  United  States,  there  are  eighty-five 
thousand  teachers  of  Common  Schools. — 
These  men  are  giving  character  and  education 
to  four  millions  of  Sovereigns.  And  the  edu- 
cation of  the  American  People  will  be  whatev- 
er these  teachers  have  to  impart,  for  the  child 


ON   EDUCATION.  89 

is  the  wax  which  the  instructor  stamps.     "  As 
is  the  teacher,  so  is  the  school." 

What  a  model-man  should  a  teacher  be  ! — 
He  who  is  to  sweep  the  harp, — the  human 
heart,  that  harp  of  a  thousand  cords, — the  tones 
of  which  are  to  remain  in  the  strings  forever  ! 
such  a  one  only  can  be  a  good  instructor,  who 
is  thus  described  by  the  poet : 

"  A  man  so  various  that  he  seemed  to  be 
Not  one,  but  all  mankind's  epitome." 

And  what  imparting  powers  are  required  in 
a  teacher !  To  so  delight  the  young  mind 
while  pouring  light  and  truth  into  it, 

"  As  if  the  soul  that  moment  caught 
Some  treasure  it  through  life  had  sought." 

Should  not  a  profession,  demanding  such 
powers  and  attainments,  be  honored  and  well 
rewarded  ?  They  who  are  giving  knowledge 
to  the  children  of  this  free  government,  are 
friends  to  the  world,  benefactors  to  society,  and 
deserve  all  the  encouragement  from  those  who 
preside  over  society,  with  the  applause  and 
good  wishes  of  all  good  and  honest  men. 


90  LORD  BROUGHAM 

But  it  is  not  surprising  that  teachers  are  so 
meanly  estimated,  when  "Instruction,  that 
mysterious  union  of  Wisdom  with  Ignorance, 
no  longer  requires  a  study  of  individual  apti- 
tudes, and  a  perpetual  variation  of  means  and 
methods  to  varied  intellects  ;  but  a  secure,  uni- 
versal, straight-forward  business,  to  be  conduct- 
ed in  the  gross,  by  proper  mechanism,  with 
such  intellect  as  comes  to  hand." 

What  capabilities  has  such  a  one,  to  give  bat- 
tle against  the  great  empire  of  darkness  ?  He 
is  "  darkness  striving  to  illuminate  light ! !" 

On  this  momentous  subject  public  opinion 
must  be  enlightened,  that  the  teacher  may  be 
qualified ;  for  he  has  yet 

" to  learn 

That  it  is  dangerous  sporting  with  the  world, 
With  things  so  sacred  as  a  nations  trust, — 
The  nurture  of  her  youth,  her  dearest  pledge." 

"  O  how  many  teachers  yet  are  hide-bound 
pedants,  without  knowledge  of  man's  nature 
or  of  boys  ;  or  of  aught  save  their  lexicons  and 
birch  rods." 


ON   EDUCATION.  91 

Are  such  fit 

"  To  aid  the  mind's  developement  to  watch 
The  dawn  of  little  joys — to  see  and  aid 
Almost  the  very  growth  !" 

No  !  nor  ever  will  be  so  long  as  we  pay  and 
respect  those  most,  who  amuse  us,  and  those, 
least  who  instruct  us. 

"  But,  alas  !  so  is  it  every  where,  so  will  it 
ever  be  ;  till  the  hodman  is  discharged,  or  re- 
duced to  hod-learning;  and  an  architect  is  hired, 
and  on  all  hands  fitlly  encouraged  ;  till  com- 
munities and  individuals  discover,  not  without 
surprise,  that  fashioning  the  souls  of  a  genera- 
tion by  knowledge  can  rank  on  a  level  with 
blowing  their  bodies  to  pieces  by  gun-powder ; 
that  with  generals  and  field-marshals  for  kill- 
ing, there  should  be  nobly-honored  dignitaries, 
and,  were  it  possible,  heaven-ordained  Priests,, 
for  teaching" 


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